1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printing and, more particularly, to detecting in a printing device the printing of a luminescent ink.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Currently there is no way for a postage meter to determine if a fluorescent ink is being used in a postage meter. Furthermore, there is no way of identifying if either a fluorescent ink is printed or if a fluorescent ink indicium is missing due to a mechanical/electrical problem with the print head. It is important for a postage meter manufacturer to be aware of any of these outcomes to warrant that its meters operate as designed. Any solution to these problems must also be small enough to be implemented in mailing machines. There are sophisticated instruments, unrelated to printers or postage meters, which can give a fluorescent spectral response, but these instruments are very large and expensive.
Currently many postage meter manufacturers place microchips on their ink cartridges to prevent the printer (or meter) from printing with a counterfeit or wrong ink color cartridge. This protects the integrity of the equipment and prevents the printer from being damaged by counterfeit ink. These chips have to be placed on each of the millions of cartridges produced, and are a significant expense. There is a desire to provide an alternative way of solving this problem. There is a desire to provide a Read After Print (RAP) sensor to protect supplies revenue and prevent damage to postage meters from unauthorized ink usage.